Social Prescribing USA

10/20/2026

Our monthly newsletter last week (are YOU subscribed?) was full of newsworthy information, all in honor of the one year anniversary of the first U.S. Social Prescribing Leadership Summit we held at New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) last October. Not only did we share the submission link for presentations at our March conference with the University of Michigan Institute for Social Prescribing, but we also announced the first phase of our NEW online Learning Hub was now live! With generous support from the The John A. Hartford Foundation, we now have a collection of six videos to help advocates promote social prescribing in their communities and health systems. This is just the beginning of the Learning Hub's offerings and will be adding more content in the months to come. Visit the Learning Hub below:

Social PrescribingLearning Hub Overview The Social Prescribing Learning Hub, made possible with generous support from The John A. Hartford Foundation, is designed to meet providers wherever they are in their social prescribing journey, from learning the basics to putting the approach into practice.....

10/17/2026

Exactly one year ago today, Social Prescribing USA gathered more than 50 social prescribing leaders at New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark, NJ for a full-day discussion on what was needed to move the social prescribing forward given all the incredible momentum that has been in the U.S. over the past couple of years. The report from that day can be found below. What's most promising for us is that many of priorities identified that day are well underway across the country, including a range of US-based research efforts, new papers, new coalitions formed and a sense of collective energy nationally to make social prescribing an accepted part of medical care for all patients. And on our end we have partnered with the University of Michigan Institute for Social Prescribing for the U.S.'s Inaugural Social Prescribing Conference in March in Ann Arbor! (link for information in comments). In short, the U.S. social prescribing movement has made great strides in the past year and we can't to see what the next year brings!

A Report from the First U.S. Social Prescribing Leadership SummitOctober 17, 2025 Building the Future of Social Prescribing in the United States Over the past few years, the global social prescribing movement has made significant strides in the United States. Substantial media attention on the pract...

10/16/2026

Among the many reasons we have decided to partner with the new University of Michigan Institute for Social Prescribing for the Inaugural U.S. Social Prescribing Conference in March (see previous posts on this topic!) is because the University of Michigan has taken a leading role in promoting social prescribing on its campus through programs such as ExperienceRx, ArtsRx and NatureRx. The overall trend of the growth of social prescribing on college campuses, including at Michigan, is covered in this new article on MindSite News by our friend Julia Hotz. See more below:

Social prescribing is reaching college campuses. See how Cornell, Stanford, Michigan and NYU prescribe nature and arts for mental health.

10/14/2026

BREAKING NEWS: The Call for Presentations link for the Inaugural U.S. Social Prescribing Conference at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (March 24-26) is now... OPEN! And we and our colleagues from the University of Michigan Institute for Social Prescribing want to hear from you! Do you have program or research on social prescribing in the U.S. that you want others to know about? Then, submit your presentation to our Program Committee for review by Midnight on October 26th! The link to submit is below and in comments! We look forward to hearing from you:

https://cfp.sched.com/speaker/Xvldfetcos/event

10/09/2026

Tomorrow, October 10th is World Mental Health Day! Social prescribing and mental health are deeply connected, of course. To help honor the day, we asked Lennie Knowlton, our Community of Practice Lead and the head of Salt Lake City-based Project Connection, to reflect on an expanded view of therapy and mental health treatment that includes integrating relational social prescribing that emphasizes connection to relationships, roles and community. Read more below:

On World Mental Health, the head of Project Connection discusses the importance of relational social prescribing

10/02/2026

BIG NEWS: Along with our partners at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Prescribing, we have released the official Call for Presentations for the Inaugural U.S. Social Prescribing Conference in Ann Arbor on March 24-26th, 2027!. See link below:

Interested in presenting at this high-profile event or know someone who might be? Please review the information at the link below, and submit your proposal by Monday, October 26th, 2026 at 11:59PM PT. Submissions will be accepted starting on October 13, 2026.

More information at the this link:

Inaugural Social Prescribing Conference

09/30/2026

Important new data on social connection last week shows we have a lot more work to do and why social prescribing----and engaging the health care system in promoting social connection through referrals to community resources in the arts, nature, civic affairs and other activities---is so critical! The new data finds that social connection remains weak nationwide and indicates the need for systemwide interventions in addition to shifts in individual behavior. Read more at the link below from our friends at Social Connection in America.

Social Connection in America™ is a landmark initiative based on a new, nationally representative survey that measures social connection in the United States across 25 years.

09/19/2026

Today is the start of an incredible week of activities in New York City for those that care about arts and health (that's us!). Some of our most cherished partners and friends, led by the great team at the Jameel Arts & Health Lab in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), are leading another UNGA Healing Arts Week, which brings the arts into dialogue with public health during the annual United Nations General Assembly. Events include performances, panels, workshops, and community events across all five boroughs of New York City. Learn more at the link below:

Held annually on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, UNGA Healing Arts Week is a dynamic program of events celebrating innovative approaches to…

09/18/2026

For all of our friends and colleagues in the San Francisco Bay Area (or friends and colleagues who will be in town!), please join us for a fun reception on October 8th!

We are pleased to join with several organizations, including Social Connection Collective, Zero Empty Spaces, Front Porch Communities & Services, and the NorCal Coalition for Social Connection at UCSF for

▪️ Prescribing Connection: Clinicians, Artists & Community in Dialogue

Join us on Thursday, October 8 (6:00–8:30 PM) at Zero Empty Spaces in downtown Berkeley, CA for an evening of real conversation, live art, music, and community connection, exploring how social prescribing is bringing clinicians, artists, and neighbors together across the Bay Area.

▪️ Thanks to Workday for generously sponsoring food & beverage for the evening!

RSVP link in comments:

08/27/2026

BIG ANNOUCEMENT: We are pleased to join with the University of Michigan and its new Institute for Social Prescribing to announce Connected for Health: The Inaugural U.S. Social Prescribing Conference. Please join us in Ann Arbor, MI next March 24-26th, 2027 for the very first public conference dedicated to social prescribing in U.S. history!

We and our partners will have much more to say about the conference in September, but we wanted to get out a Save the Date because we couldn't contain our excitement any longer! Stay tuned for MUCH more to come on this.